The final blessing on the design of Rossland’s new skatepark is now in the hands of City council.
Aaron Cosbey of the Rossland Skatepark Society took the final park design to council chambers Monday night in order to obtain feedback and approval from council on the plan distilled from recent public process.
The 12,000-square-foot all-wheel park—to be located on the southeast corner of the Emcon lot on Washington Street—needed final sign off from municipal government in order for the society to proceed, Cosbey told council.
“If we have a final design … and a budget, we can go to our in-kind suppliers and tell them what we need,” he explained about .
“The basic process, as we see it, gets started as soon as we get approval on that design.”
He estimated the society would be able to secure around $200,000 out of a total budget of $600,000 for the park for in-kind contributions. Some partners have already verbally declared they are on board, Cosbey said. The society needed the final approval of council on the design and a budget to close the deals.
Cosbey said the society had raised enough money to cover around $25,000 for the design process.
The society also asked if council could authorize the City’s planner to work with them on the aspects of landscaping and bordering around the park. It would allow the facility to fit in with the Official Community Plan for the area.
In the coming City budget deliberations, Cosbey requested council’s consideration for budgeting on the approved landscaping and amenities.
“This park needs to be more than just a skate park. This is a valuable lot. It’s a diamond, actually, and it’s sitting in the centre of Rossland on a nice level lot and we want it to be more—we want it to be a public area,” he said.
And finally, Cosbey asked council to consider beginning the process of rezoning the lot for placement of the recreation facility (parks and open spaces). Council received the presentation from Cosbey but elected to defer any decision on the park’s design to a future meeting.
